Mountain View Voice

News - May 27, 2011

Crime brief

Liquor store hold-up

A Mountain View liquor store owner was held up at gunpoint in broad daylight on May 18, but nothing was taken by the would-be robber, police said.

The victim, a 64-year-old Mountain View resident, is owner of Clyde's Liquors, located at 239 W. El Camino Real. He was alone in the store, having just reopened it at about 4 p.m. after locking up to go to the restroom, said Mountain View police spokeswoman Liz Wylie.

A man waiting at the door rushed in, grabbed the liquor store's owner around his neck and poked him in the back with a gun, Wylie said. Security camera footage confirmed that the man had a firearm, she said.

The liquor store owner reached back, punched his attacker in the arm, and the robber released his hostage, Wylie said. The owner fled out the front of his store. From a distance he saw the robber get into a small gray sedan, driven by an accomplice, which fled eastbound on El Camino Real.